(a) Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a front end module for a vehicle. More particularly, it relates to a front end module for a vehicle, which increases a bending and torsional stiffness of a vehicle body by improving the sectional structure of a part in which a front side member and a front end module lower member are connected.
(b) Background Art
Generally, a front end module of a vehicle forms the front part of a vehicle body framework. Recently, the front end module has been used as a place where a package such as a radiator, a condenser and a fan is installed to secure a space of an engine room.
Thus, the front end module is a structure that supports a radiator assembly in which a condenser for an air conditioner and a radiator are integrated and a bumper installed at the front side of a vehicle body. The front end module includes upper and lower members that are horizontally disposed at the upper end and the lower end, respectively, and a vertical member vertically connecting between both upper and lower members, which are integrally modularized in the front end module.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views illustrating a typical connection structure between a front end module and a front side member.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a front end module 11 is disposed at the front of a front side member 10. An upper member 12 of the front end module 11 is connected to the rear end portion of the front end 10, and the lower member 13 is connected to the front end portion of the front side member 10. Thus, the front side member 10 and the front end module 11 can be integrally assembled.
However, in the connection structure of the lower member 13 of the front end module 11 and the front side member 10 as shown in FIG. 3, since the front end module 11 is disconnected from the vehicle body in terms of sectional structure of the connection, the stiffness of the lower member 13 may be reduced, and thus, occurrence of booming due to resonance and reduction of vehicle body stiffness may be incurred.
Also, due to the sectional disconnection of the lower member 13 of the front end module 11, the front end module 11 may be severely deformed upon low-speed crash, reducing the low-speed crash performance.
In this regard, Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2011-084196, 10-264855, and 2000-177651, and Japanese Patent No. 4,938,717 disclose various structures in which the stiffness of a front end module is reinforced.
However, since the above-mentioned technologies disclose a structure of a vehicle body in which the stiffness is mainly increased, or a structure integrally formed by welding after a polymerization connection, or a structure connected by welding while requiring a separate connection bracket, there are limitations in terms of the number of components, structure, and assembly workability. Particularly, the stiffness of the connection part between the front end module and the front side member needs to be reinforced.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the disclosure and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.